Chapter 363: A Way Through

Chapter 363: A Way Through

Jin crouched at the gully mouth and pressed his boot into the gravel. The loose surface shifted, then stopped against firm ground beneath it.

Small cloven hoofprints crossed the slope in both directions. Water trickled beside them and drained toward the creek rather than pooling in the climb.

"Goats use it," he said. "And it isn’t holding water like the old track. Could we check this way?"

Pim knelt beside him with a measuring pole. "Worth checking. Goats don’t weigh what Clover weighs, though."

"Or him," Jin admitted, looking at Glitch.

The drake had followed them over and was sniffing the prints. One heavy forefoot covered several at once.

With Holt and Tuck watching the valley approach, Pim tested the climb on foot. Jin followed, probing ahead with a pole. Beneath the gravel lay a continuous shelf of stone. They found no undercut edge, though two pockets of loose shale needed clearing before an animal went through.

The narrowest turn measured 1.9 meters. Clover’s loaded crate frame needed 1.8. Glitch could pass it with his tail held straight behind him, but there would be little room to turn.

Pim photographed the bend before calling down to Holt.

"Rock all the way up. Steep, but within Clover’s working slope. We’ll need footing cleared at the second turn."

They took the equipment up in stages. Clover climbed slowly with Pim at her head, pausing when the frame brushed rock. Glitch followed only after she reached the top. Jin watched his feet carefully and felt absurdly pleased when the drake negotiated the tight turn without scraping his armor.

The ledge widened above them. Pim measured three meters, then two and a half farther north. To their left rose the western cliff; to their right, the slope dropped toward the flooded valley.

Jin stopped at the top to catch his breath. The climb had warmed him enough to undo his jacket, and dust had worked into both socks. Below, the washed-out track looked almost flat from this height. He understood why a map could miss the worst part of a route; even standing above it, he couldn’t see how deep the mud was.

"West Bench," Pim said, writing the name on his map. "That’s what I’ll call it unless somebody has a better idea."

"Bench is fine," Jin said. He was more interested in whether it stayed wide enough.

They advanced together. Holt kept Tuck at the rear where he could watch the gully, while she checked the way ahead with Jin. Pim measured the narrow points. Sefa marked unstable patches and took pictures of the slope above.

Flicker made short scouting flights between visible perches. When the ledge curved out of sight, Jin brought her back and moved up with the others before sending her again. It was slower than letting her range freely, but he could tell where she was looking instead of guessing from her mood.

At one stop, Clover reached toward the feed pouch on his belt.

"That’s Flicker’s," Jin told her, moving it away.

The ox followed it with her nose.

Pim caught her halter. "She considers labels a suggestion. Sorry."

Flicker gave an indignant chirp from Jin’s shoulder. He found himself smiling, and the tight feeling left by the bear tracks eased a little.

It returned when they reached the pines.

Just before the trees, the bench passed beneath a low overhang. Holt paused there to check a projecting ledge high above it and the rocky spur farther north. She motioned Jin past while Tuck stayed behind her. Jin glanced up too, but the dark gap beneath the pines drew his attention back to the route. Something was blocking the path.

The trees grew from cracks in the cliff and leaned across the ledge. Beneath them, the path narrowed around a rounded boulder at the outside edge. A fallen pine lay diagonally across the remaining space, its root end pressed against the cliff and its upper trunk caught on the boulder.

There was a gap beneath it, barely enough for a person to crawl through. Clover stood behind Pim and waited with the steady reluctance of an animal expecting bad news.

"We can’t use this with full crates," the surveyor said. "Even if we unload her here, we’d have to do it every trip."

Sefa looked through the branches. "There’s open ground beyond. The trunk’s the problem."

Holt moved far enough forward to inspect both ends. Jin stayed behind her, studying where the pine rested. Its crown hung beyond the boulder, over the slope. The roots were the only part keeping the heavier trunk on the path.

He looked at Glitch’s shoulder.

"He could lift that end free," Jin said. "Then push it toward the edge. The top’s already hanging over."

Holt followed his gesture. "He’d need to stop as soon as it rolls. We don’t want him following it down."

"I can keep him on the cliff side."

She tested the boulder with her boot and examined the ground beyond. There were no loose slabs beneath it, and the slope below was clear of the team.

"All right," Holt said. "Slowly first. Pim, keep Clover back."

Jin was showing Glitch where to brace when Tuck growled.

He turned at once. The wolf stood on the open ledge behind them, ruff raised, looking south. A warning came through Jin’s bond with Glitch too: heavy movement approaching along the ground.

Something rounded the bend beyond Tuck.

The bear was hump-backed and matted with mud, with jagged plates rising along its spine. It filled most of the narrow track. Jin’s appraisal confirmed the rank Holt had warned them about.

[Shalefang Bear]

[Combat Rank: 3]

Shit. That’s much closer than I wanted to see it.

Holt was already moving. She sent Tuck back toward a constriction beneath an overhang and followed him, leaving Jin beside the fallen pine.

"Astor, get them through," she called. "Bird ahead to check the next stretch. Drake on the trunk. Pim and Sefa, move when he says."

"And you?" Jin asked.

"I’ll hold it at the overhang. Call when everyone’s clear. Keep going to the open bend beyond the trees; I’ll follow."

Her voice was steady enough that he nearly answered as if they were still discussing the survey. Then the bear struck the stone with one forepaw, and grit jumped along the ledge.

Jin wanted Glitch beside him. He wanted the whole team back at the gate. Neither wish would move the pine.

He sent Flicker through the branches toward the opening Sefa had seen, with a clear request to look and return. Her small body slipped between the needles and vanished from view for the short inspection.

"Glitch, here," Jin said, putting his palm against the root end. "Shoulder under. Lift first."

The drake lowered himself beside the cliff. His hide darkened with Harden as broken branches scraped his flank.

Jin stepped behind his shoulder, away from the space where the trunk would roll. Pim drew Clover back. Sefa took the measuring pole out of their way.

From the overhang came a hard impact followed by a roar.

Glitch’s muscles bunched under Jin’s hand. The roots rose a few centimeters, shedding dirt onto his boots.

"That’s it," Jin said. "Now push."